Crimestoppers are offering a reward of up to £10,000 for information given to them which leads to the arrest and conviction of the people responsible for the murder of Danny Pearce in Greenwich last month.

Thirty-one-year-old Danny, who was from Bromley, was killed after being approached by two men on a moped. He was fatally stabbed whilst they attempted to rob him of his Rolex watch in the early hours of Saturday 15 July 2017. The attack occurred whilst the victim, along with others, were making their way to a parked car on King William Walk shortly after 00.15am.

Roger Critchell, our Director of Operations, said: “To knife someone in the neck for a Rolex watch is unthinkable, as is the impact of this murder on those Danny has left behind. These ruthless perpetrators must be found before they strike again.

“I’m certain that someone, somewhere will know this pair and if you’re too worried to speak directly to the police, our Crimestoppers charity will take your information 100% anonymously. Call us, or use our non-traceable online form to tell us who these men are and you could be entitled to a reward of up to £10k if it leads to their arrest and conviction. If you know who and where these moped riders are, please do the right thing and let us know.”

If you have any information, please contact Crimestoppers charity anonymously on 0800 555 111 or through our Anonymous Online Form.

Floor Blimey! Remains of an original tiled floor from the Greenwich Palace of Tudor times have been discovered by the conservators working at the Old Royal Naval College. Details in the press release below:

--

The team working on the major development of the Painted Hall in Greenwich have uncovered the remains of Greenwich Palace, notable as the birthplace of Henry VIII and of his daughters Mary and Elizabeth I.

Greenwich Palace had a scale and magnificence comparable to Hampton Court Palace, in an idyllic riverside setting. It comprised everything from state apartments, courtyards, a chapel, elegant gardens, a substantial tiltyard for jousting with a five-storey tower for viewing, and was at the very heart of Tudor cultural life and intrigue.

Careful preparation of the ground for the new visitor centre below the Painted Hall led to the discovery of two rooms of the Tudor palace, including a floor featuring lead-glazed tiles. Being set back from the river, these are likely to be from the service range, possibly where the kitchens, bakehouse, brewhouse and laundry were. One of the rooms was clearly subterranean and contains a series of unusual niches, which archaeologists believe may be ‘bee boles’ for the keeping of skeps (hive baskets) during the winter months when the bee colonies are hibernating. Bee boles have occasionally been found in historic garden walls, but it is very rare to find them internally, making this find even more significant. The niches were probably used for keeping food and drink cool in the summer months when the skeps were outside.

Nothing of Greenwich Palace survives above ground; with the coming of the Stuart dynasty, and the construction of the Queens House, the old-fashioned Tudor Palace was neglected in favour of the new renaissance style, and with the designs for a new Stuart palace, the Tudor buildings were swept away. In fact the new palace, which was being designed by Christopher Wren to be a little like the phenomenum that was Versailles, was never built, and instead, Greenwich Hospital was created instead, which today is the Old Royal Naval College.

Discussions are now underway over the possibility of displaying the Tudor archaeology in situ within what will be the new Painted Hall interpretation gallery.

Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of Historic England said:“This is a really remarkable find. The Tudor period is one which grips the public imagination like no other, probably because of the larger-than-life characters like Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, as well as the magnificence of the buildings. To find a trace of Greenwich Palace, arguably the most important of all the Tudor palaces, is hugely exciting. The unusual and enigmatic nature of the structure has given us something to scratch our heads over and research, but it does seem to shine a light on a very poorly known function of the gardens and the royal bees. The most exciting aspect is that the Old Royal Naval College is able and willing to incorporate this into the new visitor centre, so everyone can see a small part of the palace, for the first time in hundreds of years.”

Greenwich Palace was built by Henry V’s brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in 1426, and rebuilt by Henry VII between c1500-06. The Palace was substantially demolished at the end of the seventeenth century to make way for the Royal Naval College built by Sir Christopher Wren and Nicholas Hawksmoor between 1692-1728. From surviving paintings and documents it is known that the palace covered much of the land on which the Old Royal Naval College stands.

The Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College, described as ‘the Sistine Chapel of the UK’, is currently undergoing a major transformation over the next eighteen months, including the creation of a new visitor centre, Sackler Gallery and café developed by Hugh Broughton Architects. Visitors currently have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get up close to the ceiling of the Painted Hall through a series of ceiling tours, which are accessible to all.

A major gift of £1m from The Gosling Foundation was announced in January 2017. Other grants, including £3.1m awarded from the Heritage Lottery Fund in March 2016 and support from some of the UK’s leading philanthropists, have enabled the £8.5m conservation project to begin. A further £2m is necessary to complete the project, and all donations will go towards the conservation fund and the conservation.

The Old Royal Naval College would like to thank Historic England for their advice and support on this project. ... See MoreSee Less

Lots of people will have the Grandfather's London/Greenwich photo books on the local history section of their bookshelves. Here's an interesting post by historian Julian Watson with the fascinating background to those books and the photos in them. ... See MoreSee Less

On Boxing Night, 1885 Rev. Charles Spurgeon, one of the twin sons of the famous Charles Haddon Spurgeon, minister of the South Street Baptist Chapel entertained his large congregation with a magic lan...

Staying in Greenwich?

If you're visiting Greenwich and plan to stay overnight, use our accommodation map below to browse local hotels (red) and self catering apartments (blue) or click here to read more about hotels in Greenwich.